The present invention relates in general to carton tray apparatuses, and in particular to an articulable tray apparatus for the containment and protection of articles such as food produce articles. The carton tray apparatus of the present invention resists collapse during stacking while maintaining its assembled configuration when full and under stress--while further being easy to assemble from a blank of minimum material.
A typical prior art carton tray apparatus comprises, in part, a single piece blank made from carton material, such as corrugated cardboard. The blank is divided into several regions, including a rectangular bottom wall, with two side walls and two end walls which extend contiguously from the opposed respective side and end edges of the bottom wall. Top walls extend from either or both the side walls and end walls. When the side and end walls are folded into an upright position, the side and end walls describe an article containment region. The top walls are then folded at right angles to either the side or bottom walls from which the top walls emanate, with the top walls configured to extend parallel to and in a spaced relationship with the bottom wall.
In such conventional apparatuses, some form of tab or flap is typically utilized to hold the side and end walls in their upright articulated position. A principal difficulty with most prior art designs is that the tabs or flaps, which are used to hold carton tray apparatuses in their articulated configurations, are typically configured along the outer periphery of the blanks from which the apparatuses are formed. Such flaps or tabs extend outwardly from the blank, and require that the original piece of carton material, from which the blank is cut and formed, must have a larger overall dimension than that actually necessary to form merely the side, end and top walls of the carton tray apparatus. If the amount of carton material which is used to form the blank can be reduced even by a small percentage, significant savings can be achieved in the production of such carton tray apparatuses, particularly when such carton tray apparatuses are produced in large quantities. Similarly, such an apparatus must be capable of being inexpensively and quickly articulated into its fully assembled configuration either by mechanical and/or manual means.
An additional consideration arises as a result of the stacking of such carton tray apparatuses. If each carton is heavily loaded, when they are stacked there will be a tendency for at least the top wall of each carton to be crushed by the corners of the bottom of the carton above it, since the top walls are not supported on all four sides. Accordingly, it is desirable to provide some form of support within the current tray apparatus to help resist the collapse and crushing of the top walls--while reinforcing the compressive strength of the side and end walls.
An example of a prior art carton tray apparatus is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,418,863, to Kimbrell. Kimbrell '863 discloses a carton tray apparatus generally as described which includes a reinforced corner construction. This reinforced corner construction takes the form of a flap which extends from the side wall and is then folded to form a support member which extends diagonally across a corner of the bottom wall and extends between the top and bottom wall. Once the side wall flap has been placed in its support position, it is held in place alternately by a slot and tab and friction configuration or by an obstructing flap which is pulled upwardly away from the bottom wall to block the side wall flap and preclude it from unfolding. The carton tray apparatus of Kimbrell '863 is held together in its articulated configuration by locking flaps which extend from the ends of the partial top wall. Each locking flap is then folded down across and alongside the ends of the side walls, and a holding tab which extends from an end of the locking flap is projected through a slot at the base and side wall and engages at the side wall. Examination of the unarticulated blank from which the Kimbrell '863 carton tray apparatus is formed reveals that the holding tabs, as is typical, extend from the peripheral portions of the locking flaps and extend outwardly from the main body of the blank, thus requiring an increase in the size of the original carton material from which the blank is cut, relative to the amount of carton material needed to form the bottom, side and end walls of the carton tray apparatus.
An additional example of a prior art carton tray apparatus is shown by a carton tray apparatus manufactured and sold by Georgia-Pacific Corporation, which, among others, is similar to the carton tray apparatus disclosed in formerly pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 657,151, filed Oct. 3, 1984, now abandoned, which reveals a carton tray apparatus having reinforced corners. Both the Georgia-Pacific Corporation and the '151 carton tray apparatuses are assembled from blanks configured similarly to that of Kimbrell '863, and are held in their articulated configurations by locking flaps which extend from the ends of partial top walls which emanate from side and/or end walls. Locking tabs extend from the outer peripheral edges of the locking flaps and project through and engage locking apertures positioned at the base of the adjacent side or end walls, near where the respective side or end wall joins the bottom wall. Similarly to Kimbrell, these carton tray apparatuses require a larger sized orignal piece of carton material from which to form the blank.
It is thus an object of the present invention to provide a carton tray apparatus for the transportation and storage of articles such as food produce articles, which resists collapse during stacking. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide such a carton tray apparatus which includes a reinforced corner construction.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a carton tray apparatus which may be articulated from a single sheet of carton material, in a facilitated manner.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a carton tray apparatus, articulated from a single sheet of carton material, which is capable of maintaining its articulated configuration without the use of external binding means such as staples, glue, tape or other material.
Accordingly, another object of the present invention is to provide a carton tray apparatus articulated from a single sheet of carton material, which employs locking tabs to maintain its articulated configuration, which locking tabs emanate from interior portions of the sheet of carton material so as to reduce the amount of original carton material which must be employed to form the blank for the carton tray apparatus, while being capable of being easily deployed to its locked, fully articulated configuration.
These and other objects of the invention will become apparent in light of the present specification, drawings and claims.